70 ADVENTURES IN THE SOUTH SEAS 
his willingness to be poor and despised, formed the subject 
of wonder and inquiry throughout Fiji. And wherever he 
went, his simple zeal and earnestness increased the wonder, 
and drew more fixed attention to the religion which had 
wrought so marvelous a change. ... 
“At his baptism, Verani chose the name of Elijah; and 
when he built his new, large house, called it Cherith. Here 
he lived in great happiness with his wife, of whom he was 
very fond. Their daughter was regular and attentive at 
the school. Family prayer was never neglected, so that this 
household became a pattern to the natives, and its master 
went in and out among them an example of what the grace 
of God can do in reclaiming the worst of men. He was al- 
ways happy and kind, and thought no trouble too great and 
no distance too far, if anything could be done to heal a 
quarrel, to prevent a war or a strangling, or any other of 
the horrors in which he had formerly taken so active a part. 
“Elijah Verani was singularly a man of prayer. He con- 
tinually went to God with his difficulties, and they were many. 
The chiefs and people under him, who yielded an implicit 
obedience while they dreaded him, now despised his kind 
and fervent exhortations, and often his life was in peril at 
their hands. All this served to make his communion with 
God more close and abiding. In praying aloud, he had great 
fluency and power. A specimen of his petitions fortunately 
exists. It was taken down by Mr. Williams when Verani was 
on a visit to Mbau. . . . He did not talk to God, or talk af 
the people; he pleaded, he interceded, he prayed. 
*“O Lord, our Lord! O God, our Father, whose abode 
is heaven! we worship before Thee. We offer not ourselves 
or our own righteousness, to gain Thy notice; we present 
Jesus; we come with this our worship in His name. Thou 
art God; we know Thee to be God. We come to Thee 
whom once we knew not: in those days we served gods that 
are not gods; we were wearied in attending on them. O 
Lord, the true God, have mercy upon us! We are now en- 
